Recent News

On the eve of Wells Fargo's annual shareholders meeting in San Antonio, TX on Tuesday, home defenders, students, community groups, and activists in ten cities took peaceful action against the bank. Petitions signed by thousands of people were delivered to Wells Fargo branches and offices across the country calling on CEO John Stumpf to change the bank’s predatory practices.

Earlier this month, we put the word out that we were planning to take on Wells Fargo and the response we got was overwhelming. So many people registered for an organizing conference call that we had to schedule a second one just to accommodate everyone.

Well’s Fargo’s well-documented history of abusive and discriminatory lending, servicing, and foreclosure practices have caused millions of families to lose their homes or be underwater on their mortgages. The bank’s actions have devastated communities across the country- impacting everyone from homeowners facing foreclosure, to students struggling to afford school, and immigrants fighting to keep their families intact. Even Wells Fargo employees are stepping forward to talk about how the company's predatory practices hurt their workers and communities.

On April 29, Wells Fargo will celebrate it’s record as the country’s most profitable bank at their annual shareholders meeting in San Antonio, TX. People around the country are organizing to send a message to the bank that these predatory practices have to stop. Home defenders have launched petitions online, and planned actions at local Wells Fargo branches and offices, and some are even traveling to San Antonio to confront the bank’s executives directly.

On Wednesday February 19, supporters delivered petitions signed by over 2,000 people to Wells Fargo branches around the country, urging the bank not to foreclose on Lavinia Curry, an 86 year old Grandmother in Irvington, NJ.

Despite being the most profitable US bank in 2013, Wells Fargo continues to foreclose on struggling homeowners, often refusing to work with families to keep them in their homes. The latest victim, Lavinia Curry, purchased her Irvington, NJ home in 2003 with the help of her children, fulfilling her lifelong dream of homeownership. In 2010, the family missed ONE mortgage payment, but attempted to make the missed payment the very next month. Wells Fargo refused to accept the payment and began the process of foreclosure instead. A sheriff's sale of the family's home is scheduled for next month.

Join NJ Communities United, Occupy Our Homes, and the Home Defenders League for the Housing Justice Academy in Newark, NJ on December 7th & 8th!

We’re bringing people together to learn how we can fight back against Wall Street greed, strengthen our connections to each other, and build a movement that has the power to push back against Wall Street and the big banks. Learn how to: • Organize your neighbors• Lead direct actions• Execute eviction defenses• Participate in non-violent civil disobedience• Talk to the press• Launch online petitions

Over the last two years, Occupy Our Homes groups around the country have helped hundreds of families fight to stay in their homes, winning houses, farms, and even churches back from the bank. We've liberated vacant bank-owned homes in order to provide stable housing for those in need. We've worked with communities to set up Eviction Free Zones, where neighbors have pledged to defend each other from wrongful foreclosures and evictions. We've learned that the only way to hold Wall Street accountable is to come together and organize-- to create a world where people, not banks, have control over their communities.

This fall, the Housing Justice Academy-- in Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Newark, and more-- will bring people together to learn tactics and strategies to defend our homes, train in non-violent direct action, and work together to build a stronger housing justice movement that has the power to take on big banks- and win!